DES MOINES, Iowa [KCCI] — Bridgestone will be laying off some employees at its Des Moines plant. In a statement, Bridgestone confirmed the layoffs but would not specify how many workers would be impacted.

“Bridgestone regularly evaluates all aspects of its business to ensure we remain competitive and resources are allocated in a manner that best supports our business strategy,” the company said in a statement.

Bridgestone says it notified United Steelworkers (USW) leadership in Des Moines about the workforce reduction, citing “demand constraints in the agriculture tire sector.”

(Greenfield, Iowa) – The Board of Supervisors in Adair County, Wednesday, were introduced to the County Conservation Department’s Summer, seasonal Naturalist. Ashlynn Schubert talked about what some of the plans she has for this Summer.

Ashlynn Schubert

A full list of the activities can be found on the Adair County Conservation Board’s Facebook page. Schubert teaches 6th through 8th grade science at the Coon Rapids-Bayard School District during the school year. She’s originally from Cherokee, in northwest Iowa, but she and her husband moved to Adair last Summer, for the opportunity to work in the same school district.

Adair County Conservation Director Dominic Johnson reminds citizens of the County about the free fishing weekend this weekend, in Iowa.

Johnson said $700 in door prizes have been donated for the fishing clinic, which runs from 9-until 11-a.m., Saturday, and includes lunch, with all you can eat hot dogs. The event begins with at 8-a.m. with registration, followed by a presentation from DNR officials. The clinic is free to kids of all ages.

Fishing clinic door prizes

The next meeting of the Adair County Board of Supervisors is Tuesday, June 11th, at 9-a.m.

Jim Field visits with Lauren Livingston of Alzheimer’s Association Iowa Chapter about June Alzheimer’s and Brain Awareness Month.

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(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Department of Agriculture says preliminary testing has found a case of Avian Influenza in a dairy herd in O’Brien County. Final testing is pending at the National Veterinary Services Laboratory (NVSL) in Ames. This is Iowa’s first reported case of Avian Influenza within a dairy. There have been 80 confirmed dairy cases in eight other states.

The Iowa Ag Department says it will soon be announcing additional response measures. Diary cows appear to recover from the disease, while birds who are infected have to be destroyed.

(Radio Iowa) – A very rainy May set Iowa farmers back on planting, and all that moisture also put crops at risk. Pools of standing water can still be found in low areas of fields throughout the state, leaving nearly a quarter of Iowa’s farmland topsoil holding surplus moisture. Besides keeping farmers from finishing their planting, U-S-D-A Midwest Climate Hub director Dennis Todey says the standing water could hurt already-planted crops down the line, if it dries out.

Todey asks, “Will root development be appropriate so that if we turn drier in the summer that can we still get at moisture that’s in the soil?” Todey says he has several concerns for planted crops in areas where there’s still standing water.

“The concern always at this point is, one: yield, can we get it along enough in the season to get a yield,” he asks, “and then two: will it get to mature in time before the fall freeze?” June is typically Iowa’s wettest month, and current climate projections show more rain is likely, with drier conditions possible by the middle of the month.

(Radio Iowa) – Congressman Randy Feenstra says he’s hopeful a new Farm Bill will get through the House and Senate yet this year.  “I think it might,” Feenstra says. “We’re going to get it marked up in the House in June and then it’s just a matter of working through the Senate.” Feenstra is a member of the House Ag Committee and the so-called “mark up” is the prelude to presenting the bill to the full House for a vote. Last fall, congress had to extend the Farm Bill that passed in 2018 because work on a new five-year plan was stalled. “There’s a lot of ongoing discussion right now of how we can get it done before September 30. I think there’s incentives on both sides and for both parties. We both see how important crop insurance is, our export markets, China buying our farmland,” Feenstra said. “I think there’s key components here that both parties want to get completed and I’m optimistic as to what I’ve heard over the past week.”

Earlier this week Feenstra emerged as the winner of the G-O-P Primary in Iowa’s fourth congressional district. “Fourth district voters sent a clear message that they want a conservative leader who delivers real results for our families and our farmers, businesses and rural communities,” Feenstra says.

Kevin Virgil, a software company owner who served in the Army and was a C-I-A officer, moved back to the O’Brien County farm where he grew up to run against Feenstra. Virgil made opposition to carbon capture pipelines the cornerstone of his campaign. Feenstra won just over 60 percent of the vote in the primary, compared to just under 40 percent for Virgil. “I was endorsed by the National Rifle Association. I was endorsed by the (National) Right to Life. I was endorsed by the Republican Jewish Coalition. I was endorsed by the Iowa Farm Bureau. These are all conservative organizations,” Feenstra says. “I think they know what’s best, along with our voters.”

Feenstra, who had surgery on May 2nd to treat a blood clot in his leg, says he’s doing well and is following his doctor’s recommendations during the recovery period. Feenstra, who is 55, is seeking a third term in the U-S House.

Jim Field visits with University of Iowa Women’s Head Basketball Coach Jan Jensen about her roots in Kimballton, playing high school basketball at Elk Horn-Kimballton, and everything that has led to her new opportunity.

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w/Kate Olson.

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DES MOINES, Iowa (KCRG) — Iconic Iowa brand John Deere announced this week layoffs at several of its locations, confirming plans in a May 31 email to employees. The layoffs, according to Iowa Workforce Development, will affect the following sites:

• John Deere Waterloo Works: 192 workers on June 21
• John Deere Des Moines Works in Ankeny: 16 workers on June 6
• John Deere Intelligent Solutions in Urbandale: 58 workers on June 6
• John Deere Waterloo Works: 49 workers on June 6

Matthew Mitchell, a Drake University professor of strategy says the global company employs 70,000 worldwide, so the Iowa numbers represent a small part of the entire workforce. John Deere reported net income of $2.370 billion in its second-quarter earnings in May. The company forecasted net income for fiscal 2024 to be about $7 billion. The construction industry remains consistent while global ag and turf demands are not as strong, the company said.

The layoffs come after the company announced 190 workers would lose their jobs later this month. The company also announced more than 300 layoffs in April.

(Radio Iowa0 – Iowa is known as a global leader in producing things like corn, hogs, wind power and ethanol, but the state’s dairy industry is also being celebrated this month. Mariah Busta of Decorah is the executive director of the Iowa State Dairy Association. “Iowa actually ranks number 11 in dairy production, but it is the fifth-largest agriculture sector in Iowa,” Busta says. “Iowa is home to about 750 dairy farms and they’re sprinkled throughout the state, but a lot of them land in eastern Iowa and actually up in the northwest corner of Iowa.”

Busta commends the efforts of the state’s dairy producers for persevering over the decades.  “We’re losing the number of dairy farms in the state,” Busta says. “The number has been declining over the years, but the number of cows has still stayed steady, if not grown a little bit, which is nice. Milk production continues to increase as well.”

The association says Iowa has about 220-thousand dairy cows. A recent study of the economic impact of Iowa’s dairy industry reports a per-cow per-year impact of more than 25-thousand dollars, giving Iowa’s dairy industry an economic impact of more than five-billion dollars per year.